


M'gaman

by Phase7



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-09 05:06:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3237419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phase7/pseuds/Phase7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Dr. Wily's betrayal, Mega Man has succeeded in saving every robot master's I.C. Chip and winning his brother Blues back to the Light Labs family.  But now that Dr. Light has rebuilt the Wily bots, getting them used to serving humans instead of terrorising them is going to be an even greater battle than the ones Rock faced before.  Even though they're trying to be helpful, these rebuilt robot masters are acting in a most peculiar way...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Trepidation was a familiar feeling to Dr. Light.  He'd felt it before onlining every one of his creations, and his children.  As he walked into his lab and wheeled out each slab on that new-moon night, his trepidation had reached levels he hadn't felt since refitting Rock into a super fighting robot, Megaman.  The starlight that came in through the long revival lab's far off window barely crawled beyond the steel panes.  The tubelike space was lit only by rows upon rows of dull green lights that formed cluttered patterns on every surface.  Their blinking resembled moving swarms of insects, interspersed by small explosions of yellow when Light passed by.  One by one, he pressed the yellow square at the end of each medical slab.  The room flooded with a wave of steady and blinding green, then descended into the darkness of the moonless sky.  Then, two by two, thirty-four andro-emotive optical arrays powered on.  
  
Too soft scrabbling sounds cluttered the room while carefully articulated manual digits performed their reset actions like discoördinated tarantulas.  Processors percolated loudly before cooling down into sleep mode, some accompanied by softly whirring fans.  High performance engines and rotary bits rumbled dangerously.  A few legs spasmed, a few helmets clanked against steel with dead faces while testing rotation, and finally every voice broke.  The sound grew from soft to deafening with each climbing arpeggio, until separately, perhaps a minute of screaming apart, each machine went completely limp.  Only a soft LED light buried in each right foot proved that these seventeen robots were finally reborn.  
  
Dr. Light turned to leave but found Rock standing in the doorway, face pulled in the look of frightened disgust that Light had programmed to accompany such a spectacle as this.  The doctor sighed and put a large hand on his son's shoulder.  
  
"The boot sequence on a new body is always scary," Light said.  
  
"So they're not hurt?" Rock said.  
  
"No.  They'll be just fine.  We should both go back to bed now.  They'll be awake in the morning.  And who knows at what time?  That will be a surprise based on their I.C. chips."  
  
This assurance brought a smile to Rock's face.  He nodded.  "Yeah.  They get to be themselves.  Free from Wily's programming."  
  
"Good.  Now, be sure to recharge your batteries.  We will have some confused robots to deal with in the morning, I'm sure."  Dr. Light patted Rock's shoulder, and then let out an infectious yawn.  Rock rubbed his optical array in the way he'd learned from watching his father, and before he knew it, he was laid in his padded recharge chamber as the array powered down.  
  
\--  
  
  
"Good morning, Mega Man!" A deep voice raced into Rock's processor, impatient but confident.  
  
Rock onlined his cameras and then his eyes.  After readjusting focus thrice, the view of something far too close to his lenses finally came into focus.  There was a face hovering directly above his, lined in red.  It was so close that he could feel the red armour's EM field racing right into his own, noses almost touching.  The bright blue eyes fixed on Rock's own were gleaming with barely caged glee.  It took Rock far too long to recognise Quick Man's face even when he saw the golden crest.  
  
Rock rolled to the side, and kicked at the bot leaning over his cushion-lined canoe of a recharge chamber.  The wires plugged into his neck snapped out from the force of his movement, but his foot didn't come into contact with any plating.  Instead, by the time Rock had taken appraisal of his entire room to form an escape route Quick was already blocking the door, arms crossed.  
  
"C'mon, is that any way to treat me?  I was just trying to be friendly, say good morning, say I'm sorry for attacking you and all.  Really and truly."  Quick's hips and lips both cocked when he smirked.  
  
"Well, you...!"  Rock took a deep synthetic breath just to stop himself.  He couldn't be the first one to blow up at Wily's robot masters.  No : the robot masters formerly under the control of Dr. Wily.  Each of them deserved a second chance just like Cut, Guts, Ice, and the whole gang.  They'd been living with a really bad role model, and he couldn't hold that against them.  Quick Man just didn't know he'd done something awkward.  
  
Rock tried again, making sure to smile and ease himself out of a combat stance so that he was simply sitting on the windowsill above his recharger, hands non-confrontationally on his knees.  "Quick Man, good morning, but you're not supposed to go into someone's room without asking."  
  
"Oh, I'm not?"  Quick looked up to the side for a moment as his shoulders shrugged.  Rock couldn't tell if he was being flippant or actually considering the information.  "The door wasn't locked."  
  
"We don't have to lock doors around here.  Everyone's safe."  
  
"Yeah, well, it's 5:00 on the dot, so I figured you should be up anyway."  
  
"I'm... usually up a bit later?  Dr. Light doesn't wake up until seven."  
  
"But there's so much for _us_ to do, Mega Man!" Quick's arms uncrossed and his fingers spread in joy.  "We definitely—"He was about to speak more when Rock's surprise interrupted him.  
  
"Us?  No, wait, Quick Man, you and the other robot masters have to do a lot of catching up today.  Dr. Light has some educational lectures you all need to hear, and you need to adjust to your civilian restructuring with special training.  After that, we can do something together, I promise!"  
  
"That'll all be over today, right?" Quick's foot was softly tapping.  
  
"Probably a few weeks?"  
  
"Ugh!  I can't waste my time sitting around listening to another doctor's lectures."  Quick's foot became fast and loud.  "You understand, don't you, Mega Man?  Light will too."  The bot disappeared in a blur of red.  
  
"It's Rock!" Rock called after the after-image in his processors that was immediately supplemented by Quickman reappearing in the door.  
  
"Okay!  I'll see you again, Rock," Quick Man promised with another pleased leer.  Then he was gone again.  
  
Rock was not entirely impressed with how the robot masters were acting so far.  Yet he reminded himself to not judge every one of them on Quick Man, of all bots.  It was just a bad start to the day, and he had fifteen other people to meet.  Surely they couldn't all be so bad.  It was only five in the morning.  Dr. Light screamed surprisingly loudly at the end of the hallway.  
  
By the time Rock had arrived in Light's room, the scientist was pulling on a crumpled shirt over his tank top and slacks.  Before buttoning it up, he wagged a finger at Quick Man, who stood powerless at the oak bed's base board, looking truly put out.  
  
"...have an expectation of privacy!"  Dr. Light said with as much disapproval as his furrowed brows could match.  
  
"I know what privacy is, doc."  Quick Man was looking to the side, arms crossed tighter than ever.  
  
"That's Doctor Light, and if you know what privacy is, you should know why you don't barge into a man's room while he's sleeping and shake him awake!"  
  
"Oh hi, Rock!" Quick Man noticed Rock's arrival before Light did, and he sent the boy robot a genuine smile.  
  
"Why, ah, good morning, Rock.  Did I wake you?"  
  
"No," Rock responded with a shake of his messy hair.  "Quick Man woke me up just a minute ago too.  I told him not to go into other people's rooms without permission."  
  
"Oh.  Oh, that," Quick looked between the two of them and gave another shrug while feebly widening his smile.  "You see, I thought that rule only applied to humans."  
  
"It applies to everyone."  
  
"Sorry, Rock.  You see, Dr. Light, Rock was also telling me earlier, as I was trying to tell you, that you have some sort of time-intensive regimen planned for us, and I just can't handle that, you see?  So if you could just give me the important points right now, I could—"  
  
"No!" Dr. Light raised his voice, then huffed out though his nose.  "I want all of you to learn together as a team.  You've already proven that you have so much to learn about what it means to live in a human society and, ah, I think it's going to be a very difficult curriculum indeed."  
  
Footsteps raced loudly down the hall until Roll and Air Man stopped outside of Dr. Light's room.  They were a strange pair standing together, but they wore identical looks of concern.  
  
"Is everyone all right?" Roll asked.  She was quickly scanning Dr. Light for casualties, and immediately relieved to find none.  
  
"We're quite fine, Roll, if a bit perturbed," Light answered.  
  
"I apologise for not waiting in the lab, sir," Airman said, "but I heard screaming and feared for the worst."  
  
"Oh, no, That's quite all right, Air Man.  I appreciate your concern."  Light nodded before looking down to finish buttoning under his great bearded chin.  
  
"I suppose _you're_ the one who caused all this trouble!"  Roll pointed directly at Quick Man who stiffened defensively.  
  
"Hey, I was just asking a few questions," Quick shot back, pointing to his own chin with his thumb.  
  
"It's all just a misunderstanding," Rock said.  He could see the situation growing out of hand, and wanted to stop any sort of fighting before it could begin.  "We should all go back to recharge a few more hours of energy."  
  
"There's no way I can go to bed after this," Roll said.  Immediately, Quick Man raced out of the room past her in the briefest lull of conversation.  "Hey!  Hey, you!"  
  
"Let him go, Miss Roll," Air Man said with the diplomatic air of one who'd lived with Quick much longer.  "I think none of us could recharge after this rude awakening.  But we cannot convene to discuss it until Wood Man rises with the sun."  
  
"We'll probably have to start locking doors."  A thoughtful baritone voice came from behind roll, drawn into the hallway by the soft billowing of a yellow scarf.  Dr. Light and Rock both exclaimed at seeing Blues, but Roll just put her fists on her hips.  All of them knew he was in residence, after all.  "I heard everything.  You'll have your hands full."  
  
"It was you who convinced me to leave their personality programming entirely intact, Blues."  Light almost sighed.  He shrugged on his lab coat.  
  
"People are a culmination of their experiences," Blues explained.  "To deny them these experiences, whether good or bad, is to deny them existence, and to reaffirm that their selves are as artificial as their bodies.  We may be constructs of metal and electrical impulses, who act within the tracks drawn by our programming, but our true selves live on in the lie that we walk a maze where we choose our path.  Wily treated all of us as inhuman servants, even though we lived as brothers.  If you ignore even the unfortunate aspects of ourselves, you ignore something that is deeply a part of that thing that we call our selves.  Our pain is part of us, and so are our mistakes.  So.  Some of them are going to continue to make mistakes, and you know what you have to do to be a good father?  You have to teach them how to stop making mistakes, not press the reset button."  
  
It was too early in the morning for Dr. Light to deal with this combination philosophical lecture and guilt trip.  Luckily, he'd dealt with it days before when Blues had convinced him to leave the I.C. chips intact.  That morning the only thing he truly had to deal with was the consequence of his acquiescence.  As he tried to rub the sleep out of his brain through his temples, Light was sure it was too early for that too.  At least Blues had agreed to stay to help him with the impossible task of socialising Wily's wild "brothers."  It was going to be, he supposed, just like getting kittens used to humans : it would be worth the effort, maybe even cute, but everyone would be clawed to ribbons along the way.  
  
\--  
  
"...and his name is Rock.  He told me that personally."  Quick Man sighed out his words over the bent fists that held up his head like a heart shaped stand.  
  
"I knew _that_ ," Snake Man said from his slab where he still lay with power cables connected.  Inside the tube shaped revival room, the robot masters had been awakening for the past hour.  
  
"Shut up, Snake.  Nobody cares if you know everything."  Quick turned his attention back to Crash Man who he had pinned by black elbows and knees under him, a captive audience.  "And he was wearing human clothes.  No armour or anything.  I could have trounced him then and there."  
  
"Then one wonders why you did not," Shadow Man said just loudly enough to not count as talking to himself.  He was curled into the shadow provided by the room's mainframe blocking the first rays of sun, arms and legs crossed.  
  
"You can shut up too.  I wouldn't hurt a hair on his little head," Quick said.  
  
"How was his hair?  Was it glorious?"  Flash Man asked in his bass warble, starting to unplug his power cables.  
  
"It was hair.  It exhibited all the fascinating properties of _hair_."  
  
"But you didn't even try to kick his butt.  That's a legitimate question," Crash Man mused from below Quick's bodily cage.  His head was turned in Snake's direction, the almond helm shape not affording him the ability to rest his head straight back like the others.  "I don't feel like exploding him into tiny little pieces.  Not the tiniest bit.  It's kind of a weird feeling."  
  
"I too lack that drive to defeat Mega Man.  And yet I recall clearly the relish with which I once _savoured_ that notion." Snake observed.  His long forked tongue darted out to wet his lips.  
  
"It was everything that defined us," Crash continued in a subdued voice.  Above him, Quick started to sway with impatience.  "Now I feel completely different.  No, not completely, just..."  
  
"All turned around?" Top Man supplied while helping Hard Man unplug the handless Spark Man.  
  
"That's it," Crash said brightly.  "We're not changed, we're just diametrically-opposite-ed!"  He shot up on the slab, pulling the cords from his neck with the force of his movement and throwing Quick backward onto his aft with a fabric-softened clang.  "He messed with us!  Dr. Light went inside our chips and changed us!  Do I even love blowing things up any more?  Okay, yes I do.  But what else did he drill into our heads while we were out?"  
  
"Calm down, CL!" Quick shoved Crash back down on the slab with open palms and then kept the other pinned arm-to-arm and leg-to-leg.  That seemed to calm Crash immediately.  "Bad-Break-Up Man lectured Dr. Light about that.  I was even there for the reprise.  They have a CD-ROM deal.  No rewrites."  
  
"And how do you know he held to that deal?  I certainly wouldn't." Snake went over his files to see if any of the snakes he'd deployed since waking up had caught said reprise.  
  
"If we judged everyone by what you'd do," Hard Man groused, "we wouldn't have been able to trust even our master.  Er, ex-master."  
  
"My point stands."  
  
"Hey guys, I think Gemini's just pretending to be asleep," Spark called from between the full recharge slab and cheap wheelchair that held two identical bodies.  
  
"Let him.  Metal and Magnet aren't up yet," Flash said.  
  
"We can't start the show until Wood powers on anyway," Top agreed.  
  
"What's everyone arguing about?" Metal Man asked while sitting up.  
  
"Welcome back, Metal," Heat Man called from his little spot sitting under the far window.  
  
"Crash Man has the crazy idea that Dr. Light's reprogrammed us," Bubble Man said.  
  
"I'm not crazy.  There's really something different." Crash protested.  
  
The Gemini Man in the wheelchair cracked open one eye. "How _is_ someone supposed to get some beauty sleep with all that noise?"  
  
"I knew it!" Spark exclaimed.  
  
"Won't anybody believe me?" Crash asked, without expecting an answer.  
  
"I do," Air Man said, putting down the thermostat device manual he'd resorted to reading since there were no other options in the revival room.  "You're correct in your inferences concerning our motivational programming.  The rancid seed of resentment has slipped from my mind like so much dust in the wind.  In its place blooms the flower of fraternity: much as I feel for my brothers, so I feel for Mega Man."  
  
"Hear that?  I'm smart." Crash grinned up at Quick.  
  
Quick clambered off of him and began to pace.  "But what _is_ it?  I'm still me, I know that, and you're still you or you wouldn't be still yelling."  
  
"Oh, thanks." Turning his back petulantly to the door and the bot pacing before it, Crash pulled the final wires from his feet.  The room grew very quiet.  Then a light-bulb went on in the part of his head where he usually kept a guided missile.  "Or it's a matter of volume."  
  
"Volume?" Air Man asked.  
  
"Yeah.  I heard you say 'hate isn't the opposite of love; the opposite of love is apathy' when you read a poem or something."  
  
"How very Air Man," Gemini commented around a yawn.  
  
"But if you forget the apathy junk," Crash continued, "you get love and hate on a volume dial.  Turn it so far it goes over to the other.  We all don't hate Mega Man any more.  Because Dr. Light reprogrammed us to _like_ him."  
  
"What a theory.  Me liking Mega Man." Quick sniffed.  
  
"Oh get off it, Tsun-man," Metal man muttered.  
  
"What'd you call me?" Quick said directly into Metal's face three speedy footsteps later.  
  
"He called you someone who likes Mega Man," Snake said. "Oh, sorry, someone who likes 'Rock,' you know, the name he told you personally."  
  
"Snake, I'll..." Quick was immediately at Snake's slab within the second.  Then his thoughts caught up with his feet.  His face dropped along with the truth. "...cripes, I like Mega Man."  



	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Light's rebuilt lab looked completely different in the daylight.  The sinister specks of green light were all dulled by sunlight steaming in and the suffused white from energy-friendly halogen tubes.  Instead tiny flecks of blue glittered from dew-soaked leaves outside every window and the solar panels embedded around the property.  There were outlets in every wall, no rocks or debris scattered in the white halls, a strong wifi signal everywhere, and the carpet was clean and soft on newly repaired foot panels.  It was like heaven for a robot.  
  
Some of the rebuilt robot masters wandered slowly in this awed spirit, dawdling far behind Dr. Light as he led the group to what appeared to be a normal living room.  It stuck out into the gardens with floor to ceiling windows on the left and a large fireplace on the far wall made of slabs of real stone.  There were three white couches circling a neat glass and wicker coffee table.  A few white wicker stools or maybe side tables spread around with various trinkets or games set on them.  Off to the right corner, an old Dalmatian-spotted beanbag chair sat in front of a television and gaming system, two empty E-candy boxes still sitting in between.  Somehow those two pieces of forgotten trash made the entire room seem cleaner.  And somehow, as if walking in a dream, with minimal noise, seventeen robots sat obediently on the couches and floor.  
  
It wasn't like they'd never seen sunlight before.  It wasn't like they'd never seen houses before.  Yet the lab and this room seemed like they didn't belong in the real world.  The feeling each bot had finally settled into a name: disbelief.  Surely something would go wrong.  Everything had always gone wrong for them.  The minute Dr. Light talked, the other shoe would drop and they could learn what kind of servitude they were sold into now.  Eyes met and passed on this truth with fearful faces.  All scientists were alike, and they wouldn't have revived robot masters if they didn't need something or someone built, or attacked, or served.  Light had pulled down a screen and a projector had popped out from over the door.  The door had locked with a click.  It was coming: the disillusion.  
  
"Hello, everyone.  As you know, I am Dr. Light.  I want you to know that there is only one thing I want from you all," the good doctor said.  Spark man closed his eyes, ready.  The Geminis intertwined their hands.  Metal Man felt something silently rattle inside him.  Shadow man opened up all his senses to learn what his new master wanted.  
  
"I want you all to be happy," Dr. Light said.  "I want humans and robots to live together peacefully.  Life is more than fighting and cowering subservience.  When I first made humanoid robots, I wanted them to experience the full range of human emotions, the pain and the joy.  You were built for a purpose : you are not worthless.  Each one of you has a function, and you are beautiful and special because of that."  
  
"Ah, there we go," the first Gemini said with a sardonic relief.  The second continued, "Our functions to serve humans."  
  
"To live alongside humans," Light corrected.  
  
"What function do I serve?" Top Man challenged.  "Everything I prepared to fight Mega Man was born of ingenuity, not programming.  The only programming I was given was to spin and roll, straight and true, but that couldn't protect me in the end."  
  
"Your guidance and balance systems were created for navigating areas that are too precarious for humans.  Spinning may not have done much against Rock, er, Mega Man, but when deflecting debris in a disaster area, it would be incredibly useful.  Your speed and gyroscopic agility will make you a wonderful exploration or rescue worker."  
  
"But what if I don't want to do that?  What if my passion, and indeed my talents lie elsewhere?  If having a purpose makes us worthwhile, then does defying that purpose make it worthless?"  Top Man could tell he was pushing it again, but his frustration overrode his caution.  His deep lidded eyes were drawn down into a glare.  Dr. Light didn't have an immediate answer.  
  
"Come on.  What's the answer, doc?"  Quick Man prodded, tired of the lull in conversation.  
  
"Finding your own purpose is also worthwhile," Light concluded, deep voice confident.  "You were all programmed with emotions as well as directives.  I can not value one over the other.  Still, the mentorship program that I will soon introduce you to will pair you with a robot master who shares your programmed specialities."  
  
As Light kept talking, Top Man's body sank into the bottom of the couch framed by Flash Man's legs behind him.  It was easier to just give up.  
  
"From here on out, the first line robot masters and I have prepared an intensive human rehabilitation program for you," Light said to all the bots present.  "The first line robot masters have agreed to mentor each one of you individually so that you can learn ways to use your powers constructively.  Before each training day, I will teach you about how to interact with humans and perfect your emotional subroutines."  
  
"What, there's something wrong with them?" Quick said.  
  
"Well, each one of you has had a horrible life after waking up.  You were not deployed under humane conditions.  And afterwards, you were not given time to properly calibrate your social functions, which were further hindered by the Wily overrides on your programming."  
  
"You said you didn't mess with our programming.  Scarf Man made you promise."  
  
"I have not changed any of your programming, just as I promised Blues."  Light sighed heavily.  "Truthfully, even your weaponisation remains intact for emergency situations."  
  
"We could hurt people?" Wood Man asked, scandalised.  
  
"You could, but you won't.  You are now governed by the three laws of robotics.  Perhaps you could call it a change, but the only thing that is different in your programming was the removal of Wily's override virus.  Think of yourself as cleaned plates whose unique shape and decoration remain intact."  
  
Needle Man huffed, "I'd rather think of myself as a person."  
  
"Of course.  Analogies are not always so easy when we're talking about brand new lifeforms like no other, you understand."  Light smiled at his own joke, expecting laughter, but none came.  He swept his arm over the projector screen, and it advanced to the next slide.  It was time to just move on with the lesson.  
  
"Today's topic in human relations is perhaps the most important: empathy.  
"Empathy is the basis of human morality and society.  The concept revolves around the higher cognitive function that allows us to imagine ourselves in the place of others in novel situations.  When we insert ourselves hypothetically into the lives of others and examine how we would feel if we were sharing their experience, we can examine the situation as if we were the other person.  This allows us to intuit their emotions and possible reactions.  
"The Golden Rule is the human reminder of empathy in our moral systems: 'Treat others the way you would want them to treat you.'  Similar is the rule 'Do as you wish, so long as you do not hurt anyone.'  The essential point is to avoid inflicting harm or discomfort on other people on purpose, since to receive this abuse would make your life worse too."  
  
"Yeah but what if you're okay with other people messing with you?" Quick asked, obviously insouciant.  
  
"Empathy often works on a generalised basis, not merely a personal one.  We can imagine what we would do in a situation, or what the majority of people would do," Light responded.  
  
"The majority of people are selfish and would back-stab you if given the chance.  Or just ask you to suffer for their goals."  
  
"No.  That is wrong, Quick Man.  The majority of people in this world are good, and will seek to help others when they are in distress.  In groups, humans act out of a sense of fraternity and cohesion.  The three laws of robotics, which I will explain next, are not meant to selfishly protect humans, but to include robots in human empathy!"  
  
Light advanced the slide.  "These are the three laws of robotics, which are embedded deep in your programming.  One : a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.  Two : a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.  Three : a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.  
"As you can see, your own survival is important as well as a human's.  The laws only ask that you see humans as equally deserving of consideration as you see yourself, just as humans should do for you."  
  
"A robot must obey orders though," Quick said.  
  
"Yes, a robot must," Shadow Man said forcefully.  "Whether serving a human or otherwise, this is the reason for our creation, and the meaning that our lives are given.  The blind groping for free will and rebellion that obsesses the rest of you makes no sense to me.  Duty and brotherhood have greater power."  
  
"Enjoy being a slave if you want.  Are you incapable of seeing that as a coded-in limitation?  Dr. Wily used that second law to force my line into the D.O.C. bot that was one stack overflow away from 'breaking the third law' all over us.  Are you the one who's incapable of empathy?"  
  
"Quick Man, please," Dr. Light interjected.  Quick Man started to protest again, but bit it off into an irritated moan. The slides advanced.  "It is true that you robot masters do not have true free will.  It is true that the three laws are meant to protect humans.  But this is only because of your great power.  Humans in similar positions of power and responsibility must live by human laws that restrict how they exercise that power.  We can't program humans to follow these laws, but we can do so for robots.  
"Following the three laws only means that you are expressing the very baseline of behaviour that is essential to humans.  It makes you more human.  To create truly human robots has been the goal of my programming research since the beginning of light Labs."  
  
At this, Dr. Light smiled warmly.  He had given them the greatest gift he could with their A.I. programming.  "I could have programmed you with far more than three laws.  Your ability to make decisions based on your _experiences_ and the morality you learn from them, and not based on having every single rule programmed into you, makes each one of you the most remarkable machines ever created.  I know that the world has not prepared you well, but that's only because you have not truly _lived_."  The slides advanced.  "That is why after your training, we will endeavour to give you enrichment activities : art, music, dance, theatre, puzzles, games, nature walks, and all the multidisciplinary learning to be had in the library.  Humans go through a period of 'childhood' where they are allowed to learn and play, and so did my 'children,' Blues, Rock, and Roll.  The first line of robot masters were given the same training and enrichment that you will receive.  I can only hope that you will enjoy it.  
"However, you are all guests here in the labs, and we do have a few additional rules for you to follow."  
  
"Oh, brother..." Bubble Man mumbled.  
  
"First of all, you are not to leave the premises of either your robot master mentor's workplace or Light Labs.  You will be given plenty of opportunities to interact with humans, but there are dangerous groups out there who might seek to harm you based on your past actions."  This rule was followed by a wave of self-conscious noises and shrugs.  None of the wily bots could deny that they'd been responsible for massive destruction and pain.  "Second, you must be present for a census twice a day, simply by arriving here for your lessons and enrichment.  Third, even though the Lab computers are linked up to our transaction service, you are not to buy anything.  If you need anything, just ask me or your mentor.  Fourth, you are not to practice any manoeuvres or use destructive powers such as explosives while indoors, out of respect for your fellow bot and this lab.  And, of course, you shouldn't harm your brothers."  
  
"Shenanigans!" Quick exclaimed, shooting up from his seat.  "Even Wily wasn't that draconian, sheesh!"  
  
"No.  Quick Man, killing people, even robotic people, is wrong."  
  
"But you can just bring us back."  
  
"That's not the point..."  Dr. Light tried to reason with Quick, but to no avail as Quick immediately talked over him as if no protest were levelled.  
  
"Look, I stab Flash Man, Shadow Man stabs me: it's the Circle of Shank, and it moves us all."  
  
"Quick Man, please sit down."  
  
"You want us to act so much like humans, but we aren't like humans at all."  Quick refused to sit, talking a bit louder and faster to defend his right to speak.  "We can be rebuilt and reprogrammed, and tomorrow we could all wake up and not remember who we are because you wiped our drives.  You could even order us to do it to ourselves, and we have to comply even if we hate it."  
  
"Someone.  Please."  Dr. Light begged mostly for his own peace of mind, regretting the past month of work he'd put in just to bring back this nightmare.  Looking past the tired hand massaging his own brow, he saw a majority of the robot masters looking at him in pity.  Yet nothing could stop Quick Man.  "Please."  
  
"We were built to do the things humans can't do.  We were built for battle and competition.  And now you expect us to all play nice?  You're telling us to follow our programming, but oh no, not that part of it.  How ca—"  
  
Quick man shut up immediately.  Dr. Light looked up, not believing his luck, and then blinked, not believing what he was seeing.  Whatever words of thanks he had were shoved unspoken into the back of his throat.  In the split second between his last plea and Quick's finale, one robot master had finally taken action to solve the problem for him.  It was just the method which left Light speechless.  
  
  
In that split second, Crash Man had moved from his seat to Quick Man's chest, handless arms thrown around the taller bot's neck, and their helmets had met.  The two heads moved slightly, and made strange noises, but refused to separate.  It was only when Quick's body relaxed and his large hands settled firmly on Crash's hips that Dr. Light's thought processes finally caught up with him and forced his eyes to focus on the tender meeting of synthetic flesh between red metal.  They were kissing, Light realised, and he wasn't ready for this realisation.  
  
"Excuse me, but—"  
  
"Shh!" Flash Man shut off Dr. Light's inquiry before it could begin.  The bald bot's face was almost fearful.  "If you want him to stay quiet, let it happen."  
  
"But what are they— why—"  
  
"What does it look like?" Bubble Man snorted.  Behind him, Flash had his hands raised in a stopping motion to reinforce his suggestion.  A few of the others were still looking at the kissing couple, but most had their attention turned back to Light, looking completely undistressed.  The two Gemini Men stage-yawned in unison.  Get on with it, the faces turned Light's way said.  
  
"Yes, well, for the rest of you, it's considered impolite to engage in intimate activities publicly.  You should absolutely not do so when on a job or mission with humans.  It's unprofessional."  Light waited for someone to contradict him, but the robot masters seemed in agreement with him.  Hard Man even nodded.  "Concurrently, you are not to talk to the press.  The press has every right to ask you questions, but you do not have to answer them.  The questions they may ask you do not constitute an order from a human."  
  
There was a heavy thud when Crash's weight finally sent Quick over the back of the couch.  Neither reëmerged.  Dr. Light ignored the new tender sounds coming from the section of floor he mercifully could not see.  
  
"What if we want to talk?" Heat Man piped up quickly.  
  
Light chuckled at the refreshingly bright tone, his attention happily focusing on the boxy bot who sat on the floor. "Well I won't stop you from making human friends.  But there is currently an ongoing court case, and its accompanying media frenzy, that I don't want any of you caught up in."  
  
"What court case?" Metal Man inquired briskly, his eyes lit with interest.  On the opposite couch, Snake Man leant forward, a smile spreading.  
  
"Well I, I suppose I should be frank with you all.  Although you acted under Wily's orders when he was legally under control of Ra Moon, the companies in charge of the facilities you infiltrated, as well as the families of the workers you injured, have filed a class action lawsuit against you.  Or rather, against Light Labs since I now hold legal custody over you.  If Light Labs loses the case, you will be destroyed 'for the public good.'  That's why I beg of you to be on your best behaviour in public.  We must show the world that without Wily's influence, you are good and helpful robots."  
  
From the shameful look on the previously exuberant Heat Man's face, Light could tell that the news wasn't going over well.  "You must be gracious to humans.  You must prove to them what Wily failed to: that all sentient creatures, human and robot alike, are capable of empathy and good will.  We have to prove, together, that we will make this world a _better_ place.  It is a grave responsibility that I am placing on you and all my creations.  It is utterly unfair to you, and for that I am sorry.  But you must prove you deserve to exist.  I believe you _do_."  
  
Dr. Light tried to make eye contact with each of the robots in the room.  He needed them to know, through the trust of linking his eyes to their cameras, that his intentions were pure and strong.  Each robot adjusted their emotive arrays.  Wide eyes spoke of processors that needed to believe in Light.  Those downcast had given up hope.  There were wrinkled eyes angry at humanity for its ridiculous standards and vacant ones that had yet to decide.  Light felt that he had let every one of them down.  He'd let Wily continue.  And maybe Dr. LaLinde was right about the folly of creating robots capable of betrayal and pain.  Wily had built these robots, but Light felt then that they were his children.  He had many lost children.  
  
Two of them were still making obscene noises into a kiss, and he was the only one in the room who knew enough to be ashamed of it.  He cleared his mind and body with a deep breath, then tapped a button on the pen in his lapel.  The doors unlocked.  Shadow Man and Wood Man immediately swivelled their heads to look.  
  
"Now is a good time to introduce you to your first line robot master mentors."  Light put up his arm in a welcoming gesture.  
  
Every head turned to the back of the room to watch the first robot masters enter.  The first line came in confidently, and most kept their gaze level without commenting on the entwined red bodies that first met their sight in the pure white room.  Until Elec Man came in, scrunched up his face, and hastily walked forward with words under his breath.  
  
"Not here, not now," Elec whispered.  He very quickly leant down and swatted Quick Man on the shoulder twice until he had the younger robot's attention.  Their cameras stayed locked on one another while Elec stood, his face a sympathetic mixture of shock, frustration, and amusement.  
  
Newly propped up on knees and elbows, Quick Man watched Elec Man take his place in the line of robots to either side of Light by rounding the far couch.  The older robot was walking wih true confidence and grace, crested head held high and arms folded behind his back.  Quick couldn't quite figure out what had happened, but something about Elec's bearing and the relative kindness with which he'd swatted the kiss to a close made Quick respect him.  Respect was a new and confusing feeling.  He didn't quite like it.  
  
Quick Man looked down to Crash  for confirmation.  Crash shrugged against the white pile carpet, looking somewhat stunned.  "Guess not," he whispered.  Then he wriggled out from under Quick's limbs and knelt behind the couch to see the action, resting his drills on the couch back.  
  
At the right-hand couch, Spark Man leaned over to Snake Man while pointing at the line. "Who is the one on the very end?"  He asked, trying to keep his tiny voice soft.  
  
"Pharaoh Man, Cossack's bot.  Interesting," Snake Man responded with creeping satisfaction.  
  
"Let me introduce your mentors," Dr. Light said.  "You may have fought them before, but now I hope that we can all work together.  Tomorrow you will begin learning and working with them at your new job sites."  Perhaps it was psychosomatic, but Light could feel the happy and proud vibrations from his creations standing beside him, filling him with more confidence in the face of the former Wily bots.  A good number of those bots seated before him had widened eyes or hands grasped together tightly.  It was their time to be nervous.  Light nodded and motioned forward with his hand.  On cue, Cut Man stepped forward.  
  
"DLN 003, Cut Man.  Cut Man works with the forestry and logging departments to both harvest and conserve our forests.  Metal man, as his upgrade you will naturally work with him.  Wood Man,  you will as well.  I hope that you can even teach your mentor what you know about wildlife conservation."  
  
Sitting between two couches on the floor, Wood Man opened his mouth, but couldn't speak.  His grateful and somewhat bashful face said enough.  Him, teaching his mentor?  
  
"Lastly, Cut Man has agreed to take on a third bot.  Gemini Man—"  
  
"What?!"  The two Geminis said in unison, formerly lazy faces snapping to attention.  
  
Dr. Light smiled but held back a chuckle. "When we were going through Dr. Wily's base and repairing the satellites, we found your bonsai trees.  Or I assume they were yours since Dr. Wily never had much an interest in horticulture, and your name was on the pots."  
  
"I... yes, those are mine," The two said in succession.  
  
"We were thinking that, forgive the analogy, the seed of your interest in bonsai could grow into a career as a forestry worker."  
  
The Geminis were looking at each other with furtive optical displays and the slight twitching of face motors that accompanied discussion that was being barely contained in radio frequency.  The answer they came up with was "Thank you, Dr. Light.  ...Where are my trees?"  
  
"Any labelled personal possessions we found have been transferred to your rooms.  I was going to get to that after assigning the mentors.  I ask for everyone's patience."  Light raised his hand again.  Cut Man stepped back and Guts Man lumbered forward with one loud footstep.  "DLN 004, Guts Man.  Guts Man works in construction, and will mentor Hard Man.  I'm sure you two will get on famously."  
  
"Yeah I'm sure, doc," Guts said cheerfully.  He'd heard about Hard Man's honourable fight with Mega Man from Rock himself, and was already optimistic about the sturdy and reliable-looking bot.  "Just remember I'm not just the Guts Man, I'm the Fore Man.  You may 'a built stuff for Wily before, but you gotta use different techniques when you're workin' with humans."  Guts and Hard exchanged a look, and then a nod.  Everything was understood.  Guts stepped back into line.  
  
"DLN 006, Bomb Man.  Bomb Man works in demolition and mining, but he and Guts Man also get called on for search and rescue in collapsed structures.  Crash Man, you will work with Bomb Man, learning to use your explosions to help people and to rate structural integrity."  
  
"Yeah, enjoy being nothing but a mining drone, drill-hands," Quick Man muttered to Crash.  Crash glared at him, a bit shocked.  
  
"You know I'm better than that," Crash said very quickly, then turned his attention fully onto Bomb Man as a way to snub the bot at his right arm.  
  
Light was simply glad the disruption ended there with a disappointed Quick Man.  He gestured with his hand so that Fire Man came forward to take Bomb Man's place.  "DLN 007, Fire Man.  Fire Man works at the local waste processing centre as the head incinerator.  As his upgrade Heat Man will join him."  
  
"Awwh, really?" Heat Man moped.  Working in the garbage all day was definitely not how he pictured his life post-Wily.  "Can't I hang with Metal and Wood?  Wood says that there's controlled burning in forests to keep the plants healthy or something."  
  
"I'm sorry, Heat Man, but Cut Man is overloaded as it is.  Work at the waste processing centre isn't as bad as you think it is.  I am sure you'll learn all sorts of things," Light said confidently.  The look that Heat was giving begged to differ.  Fire Man stepped back.  Light took a cleansing breath, because next was Elec Man.  The black and red bot stepped forward on cue, standing perfectly like a Greek statue.  
  
"DLN 008, Elec Man.  Elec Man works at the local power plant overseeing power usage and distribution.  As well, he is often called on to act as a portable generator in disaster areas.  Spark Man, you will study under him."  
  
"Oh, great!" Spark Man said happily, mostly to combat the strange sense of gloom that had muddied the pure white room.  
  
"Magnet Man, we hope that you can use your magnets as a powerful dynamo to assist Elec Man and become a great electrical worker," Light continued.  Magnet Man nodded from his seat on the left couch.  There would be no problems from him.  The problem would be the third.  "Lastly, Elec Man has graciously accepted the duty of care for a third bot.  Quick Man, you were based on Elec Man's designs.  You haven't made use of your talents as an electrical regulator, but now you can learn."  Light braced for the reaction.  
  
Quick Man's mouth was drawn thin and straight, brows low and calculating.  
  
"Enjoy being nothing but a circuit breaker," Crash quipped, still looking darkly ahead of him.  
  
" _Verflucht!_ " Quick exclaimed immediately, hackles raised in a violent EM field that crackled visibly.  Light recognised the curse almost nostalgically from many frustrated all-nighters in the lab with Wily, so long ago.  Crash looked up at Quick, unimpressed.  Quick tamped himself down and crossed his arms tightly.  "Fine!  I'm done arguing.  Misuse my talents all you want."  
  
Deciding to take this as the best response he could get, Dr. Light went forward with the announcements.  He directed Elec to step back, just catching the look of curiosity in the robot's optical array.  Time Man came forward next.  
  
"DLN 00A, Time Man.  Time Man works at the Chronos Institute performing research on the practical effects of time dilation.  As his successor, Flash Man will study at the institute."  With no great reaction to this announcement, Light nodded for the next mentor to step forward.  He watched the movement with a bit of dread seeing the oil streaks on the robot perilously close to the pristine carpet.  "DLN 00B, Oil Man.  Oil Man works with Splash Woman and the Coast Guard to rescue boats lost at sea and ensure the health of our marine environment.  Bubble Man will work with them, as well as Needle Man."  
  
There was a slight "uhhh" sound murmuring through the robot masters, but no one spoke up.  Their confused faces spoke for them.  
  
"Well," Light coughed, "Rock informed me that his chosen encounter stage was in a shipyard.  I only assumed that he had maritime experience.  Needle Man?"  
  
"I'm fine with that," Needle Man said.  "I may not be the best swimmer, but I do know a thing or two about proper rigging."  
  
"I'm glad to hear that," Light said honestly.  "Now, may I present the obvious centre of attention since his entrance, DCN 001, Pharaoh Man.  Pharaoh Man specialises in archaeology, including artefact discovery and preparation, as well as logistics.  He will be teaching Top Man and Snake Man proper procedure in scouting and exploratory mission management."  Light nodded toward Top and Snake.  "I had hoped that Ice Man could be your mentor, but the Arctic station cannot part with him right now.  Luckily, Dr. Cossack could spare Pharaoh Man."  
  
"Yes," Pharaoh Man explained for the benefit of those curious stares that were fixed on him with laser precision, especially from his future ward, Snake Man.  "Dr. Cossack's study of the new Tocharian ruins has left the excavation stage where my powers are needed, and he is now working with the translators and archivists in Xi'an.  Since they are no longer working _in situ_ , and the analysis will take three months at least, Dr. Cossack was more than happy to let me travel here to help you."  
  
"Thank you, Pharaoh Man.  Finally, there are two robot masters who will receive special attention.  Shadow Man, you will remain with me in the labs for further study of your alien design.  I am sorry to deny you access to the same amount of human interaction that the other robot masters will receive, but unlocking the secrets of your unique power core and matter replication systems could benefit humanity and robots alike."  Across the room, trying to hide in the light greys of the white room's least-lit corner, Shadow Man nodded in understanding.  He hadn't expected anything different.  "Roll has convinced me to let Air Man remain behind here as well to help reorganise Light Labs' backlog of paperwork.  And I thank you for volunteering, Air Man."  
  
"To safeguard these labs and my brothers is my duty, Dr. Light," Air Man responded.  He met Snake Man's suspicious gaze with his own determination.  They passed the truth between them silently: yes, Roll had enlisted Air Man to be a snitch and an overseer to enforce Light's rules, and that was the true purpose for him to stay behind at all times.  Snake Man hissed in a breath and broke their aggressive stare.  He had wanted that gig.  Then again, nothing would stop him from sending search snakes to snoop at each job site anyway.  
  
"Very well!  Now I can introduce you to your new rooms.  After Wily's D.O.C. bot destroyed the former Light Labs, I took this as an opportunity to expand, knowing that thanks to Rock's care in preserving your I.C. chips, we would have new protégés on our hands.  As I said earlier, any labelled personal effects we salvaged from Wily's base and the satellites have been transferred to your rooms.  You will have pair up since we have eight rooms total.  You are to be responsible for your roommate and he for you.  Your rooms are right down the end of the hallway, and I've labelled them by your number."  Light clapped his hands.  The projector screen showing the map of the lab rolled up into the ceiling and the back door opened.  "The mentors will lead you to your rooms."  
  
Most of the assembled robot masters flew out of their seats to join their mentors around Light.  Spark Man was babbling happily at Elec, Top was aglow with questions for Pharaoh, Hard and Guts were starting their relationship with a friendly thumb war, and Cut was already making his new partners laugh.  The feeling of instant camaraderie seemed to fill Dr. Light, cliché though it may be, with light.  
  
"Now now, everyone, let's get to your new rooms, out the door," Light said, pushing lightly on Wood and Needle's backs.  He threw his voice to the back of the room with a smile.  "You can follow them too, Shadow Man."  Shadow stiffened and then relaxed into the flow of robots leaving the room.  Among that number were the two nonchalant forms of robots that Dr. Light wished to have words with, taking the moment to sneak out.  "Wait, not you, Quick Man, Crash Man.  You two stay right where you are."  
  
The two froze with a muffled "oh nerts" from Crash.  Quick kicked the ground before using the momentum to spin on his heel.  He looked petulantly at Light.  
  
"I need to have a, er, quick discussion with you two.  Come here," Light ordered.  The two robots had to obey, though only one had the sense to look bashful.  
  
"What's it about?"  Quick asked.  
  
"This is about your disruptive actions earlier, Quick Man."  
  
"Oh, so I can just leave..." Crash attempted to bow out, taking a step back.  
  
"You too, Crash Man," Light said sternly.  "That kiss was equally disruptive."  
  
"You asked someone to shut him up!  I was helping," Crash protested.  "That's the uh, the thing that works every time."  
  
"Only because kissing you was way more interesting than paying attention to Dr. Light's platitudes," Quick sniffed, then remembered to play nice.  "I mean, it was important information, but I understood early on what you were getting at.  I'm a quick thinker and a quick learner on top of everything else, you see."  
  
"Yes, but you," Light paused in frustration, "you need to respect the learning speed of others.  That's a part of empathy too.  And if you keep speaking up, others won't be able to get a coherent learning experience."  
  
"I had questions," Quick said.  
  
"And they would be good questions, at another time, in a salon discussion educational format.  Which I promise you will happen on a day other than our initial introduction.  I ask you to please respect your brothers' right to learn."  
  
"All right.  I can do that," Quick agreed just to get it over with.  
  
"As for the kiss, you..." Light sighed.  How was he ever going to eplain this?  "You can't just start kissing in the middle of someone speaking.  Surely you can understand how rude that is."  
  
"I was just trying to help," Crash repeated.  "You looked about ready to explode, and trust me, I know what that looks like."  
  
"Yes.  Thank you, Crash Man, I can see that your heart was in the right place at least."  Light attempted a warm smile.  He had to exercise his own empathy at this point, he reminded himself, so from Crash's point of view the bot was helping.  But it was helping in a way that fell into the uncanny valley of social interactions.  "But the thing is, it really isn't acceptable to kiss in public at all.  Or, rather, I don't think it's appropriate for robot masters to kiss."  
  
"Why not?  It feels good," Crash said innocently.  
  
"It what?"  Light was honestly surprised.  "I didn't program that into you at all.  Where did you even learn about it?"  
  
"Uhh..." Crash drawled the syllable, looking to Quick for help with a nervously slow turn of his oblong head.  
  
"Around," Quick supplied.  "What's the matter anyway?  Wily never stopped it.  And believe you me, there is a lot of robot master kissing going on."  Quick waited to see the look on Dr. Light's face and was not disappointed by the flustered blush combined with angrily lowered brows.  
  
"You shouldn't," Light said.  
  
"But _why_ not?"  Quick pushed, noting that "should" was not an order he had to follow.  The most Wily had ordered was "not around me."  Quick was ready to game this system.  
  
"Robots aren't humans..." Light tried to explain.  
  
"But what could be more human?"  
  
There it was : a certain tilt of the head, and a sparkle in the eye, and the wide lilt of a synthetic mouth over porcelain teeth.  That question.  Light recognised with a chill down his spine where this had all started.  He bowed his head and clasped his hands behind his back.  
  
"Go catch up with the others," Light said.  "Just tell them not to kiss when humans are present.  That's an order."  
  
"Rodger.  Let's go, CL."  Quick took Crash's left drill in his right hand and spun them both around.  Soon they were exiting the room in a playful jog, still intimately linked.  Light could have said something, but the pall of defeat was already thrown over him.  
  
"Why did you do it, Blues,"  Dr. Light asked an empty room.


End file.
